Don't drive out logistics jobs in Moreno Valley with the pollution and sprawl

Don't throw out the baby with the bathwater

Could the City of Moreno Valley, let alone the Inland Empire as a whole, use thousands of additional blue-collar marketplace jobs in the logistics sector? With far more workers than jobs residing in Riverside County, the news of private investors proposing to build logistics hubs in Moreno Valley seems highly welcoming on the surface. Two major projects for example--the World Logistics Center and March Business Center--promise to provide Moreno Valley with billions in construction investments, thousands of permanent logistics and truck jobs, and millions in commerce for supporting Moreno Valley businesses. The Inland Empire could use this kind of private investment.

However, environmentalists are questioning Moreno Valley's proposed logistics centers and filing CEQA lawsuits on a project-by-project basis. Several of the CEQA claims are legit and must be addressed if Moreno Valley is to have robust and clean distribution center sites. For example, the World Logistics Center master plan covers a sprawling 3,918 acres in eastern Moreno Valley over undeveloped property at the base of the Badlands hills; there is no freight rail line for miles. Diesel trucks meanwhile remain a major contributor toward pollution. Unlike the Perris Valley Line lawsuit where it was NIMBY-led, these cases are being led by the Sierra Club, and whenever this giant environmental organization gets involved, there's bound to be legit environmental concerns that need to be fixed.

The Transit Coalition will continue to examine these projects. The region would certainly benefit with a robust, environmentally friendly logistics job center to cut down on long distance commuting and truck trips to/from other major hubs in Ontario, San Diego and Long Beach. As the two sides continue their debates, they must avoid driving out logistics jobs from the Inland Empire while trying to control bad diesel pollution, traffic congestion and runaway urban sprawl. The parties must be careful not to throw out the baby with the bathwater.